Mandaric, 73, and Redknapp, 64, are on trial in a London
court on two charges of tax evasion over $295,000 paid into a
Monaco account named after the soccer manager’s dog, Rosie, when
the two worked together at Portsmouth soccer club.

Rob Beasley, a sports reporter from the defunct News of the
World Sunday tabloid, testified yesterday after the jury of
eight men and four women were played recordings of his
interviews with the two defendants. The tapes were made almost a
year before the men were charged in January 2010.

Beasley, who now works for the News Corp. (NSWA)-owned Sun
newspaper, said the source he paid wasn’t a member of the
investigating City of London Police or a U.K. government tax
official. The News of the World was closed after evidence its
reporters hacked mobile phones of celebrities and a murdered
teenager. A separate police probe into allegations of paying
police for information is currently under way. Bloomberg News is
a competitor of News Corp.

Redknapp and Mandaric deny charges of cheating the public
revenue. The first charge alleges Mandaric paid $145,000 into
the Monaco account from April 1, 2002, to Nov. 28, 2007. The
second charge relates to payment of $150,000 from May 1, 2004,
to Nov. 28, 2007.

Interviews

Beasley spoke to Redknapp two days before the 2009 League
Cup final, which Tottenham lost. In the recordings played in
court, Redknapp threatened to sue the newspaper if it published
inaccurate material. Redknapp denied he hadn’t paid his taxes in
the conversation, saying Mandaric had told him the tax had been
paid and the money was a bonus he was due for a player trade.

In a story published Oct. 4, 2009, Beasley reported
Redknapp was to be questioned again by officials from her
Majesty’s Revenue & Customs about his offshore accounts, and
lawyers and investigators planned a meeting about how to proceed
with the case.

Beasley warned Redknapp “to be careful about who’s around
you,” saying it wasn’t a coincidence the information came out
before a big game.

The reporter also spoke to Mandaric, and the former
Portsmouth owner denied the money had anything to do with
soccer. Mandaric told the reporter he used the money to help
Redknapp, who he considered to be a friend, with an investment
unconnected with the pair’s soccer related work. He also told
police, according to interview transcripts, the payments were
loans to Redknapp.

‘Inconsistent”

The explanations were “contradictory, inconsistent and
lack credibility,” prosecutor John Black said yesterday. “Did
they really think that these payments from the owner and
chairman of the club to the manager of the club would not be
subject to income tax?”

The Monaco account was “set up quite deliberately for
receipt of the bonus sum.”

The jury was also read transcripts of a 2006 interview
between Redknapp and an investigator working on behalf of the
Premier League looking into irregularities in player trades. It
came four years after the ‘Rosie 47’ account was opened, and the
first time authorities found out about it.

“If there is any mud to sling, I seem to be on the end of
it,” Redknapp is quoted as telling investigators from Quest
Ltd. “You can look anywhere you want. No one will find anything
on me. There is nothing in the world on me.”